To the Isles of the West

I will be offline for a while, somewhere in the Hebrides.

    Maybe Mingulay,
    Or possibly Pabbay,
    Might be the Monachs,
    Or stunning Scarp.

    Perhaps Pabay Mor,
    Or the far-flung Flannans,
    If lucky, Little Bernera,
    Or bedazzling Boreray.
 
    Could be savouring the Shiants,
    Or enjoying Eigg,
    Rambling on Rum,
    Or meandering round Muck.

If the wind and sea behave, maybe all the above - along with a surprise island or two.

Cladh Choinnich - South Uist

Sometimes, while reading old books on the Scottish islands, you'll come across a short, and somewhat obscure mention of an historic site; a short mention that only serves to whet your appetite for more. But in many cases that appetite goes unrequited, because you can not find any more information. One such short mention is this from DDC Pochin Mould's West Over Sea:

Above Lochboisdale, to the northward, rises Beinn Ruigh Choinnich, the mountain of Kenneth's shieling; at its foot lies Cladh Choinnich, Kenneth's Field, the site of an old chapel.

Cladh usually means burial ground, and there is a Cladh Choinnich on the west end of Tiree associated with St Kenneth. Knowing some of the fascinating history of Kenneth, a contemporary of St Columba, I was very interested in seeing the site of another chapel and burial ground that may be associated with him. But my search for any more information only turned up a frustratingly brief CANMORE reference that says nothing remains of the chapel and burial ground. But, what if they missed something?  And so I put a visit to South Uist's Cladh Choinnich on my list of things to do.

I visited Cladh Choinnich last year as part of a two-day hike around Beinn Ruigh Choinnich (see the August 24, 2016 post). But the site can be seen by doing a three-mile out and back from the road west of Lochboisdale.

The walk starts at the first bend in the minor road that heads north from the B865, a half mile west of Lochboisdale. From there you will see a path that heads north next to the house at NF 7861 2023. The narrow path can be swampy, so the going is slow. After 15 minutes of walking you'll come to an old bridge at Aurotote that crosses the outflow of Loch a' Bharp.

Bridge at Aurotote

After crossing the bridge turn right and head east along the shore of the outflow. In a half mile you'll reach a large sheepfank that looks to have originally been a substantial farm.

After another 10 minutes of walking you will come to a cluster or jumbled stone ruins, almost completely covered with vegetation. You have reached Cladh Choinnich. 

Looking to Lochboisdale from Cladh Choinnich

There are several low, circular foundations, that may have been beehive type dwellings. In a heavily brackened area I found a low, rectangular arrangement of stones that could have been a chapel, or a burial ground enclosure. Or, for that matter, an ancient livestock pen. But something important was here at one time, something that is remembered in oral history, if not in written history.

Ruins at Cladh Chonnich

Cladh Choinnich

Enclosure?  Cladh Choinnich

For a sacred, but mostly forgotten place like Cladh Choinnich, with so little remaining, you need some imagination to picture it as it was 15 centuries ago. Which makes it all the more interesting. Adding to the delight of walking in to a place like this is that it is so far off the tourist trail that, chances are, you'll have it all to yourself. When I made my two-day hike around this corner of Uist I only encountered one other person, a shepherd out gathering his flock.

Since you've come as far as Cladh Choinnich, you might as well carry on a ways and climb Beinn Ruigh Choinnich. The summit is only a half-mile away (and 900 feet up). The view over South Uist and the Sea of the Hebrides is well worth the climb. But you might want to avoid doing it the first Sunday of August, as that's when the annual Beinn Ruigh Choinnich race is held. The 2016 race was cancelled, because on the first Sunday of August a terrible storm blew through the islands. The same storm that caused an oil rig to go aground off the west side of Lewis.

The record for the run from Lochboisdale to the summit of Beinn Ruigh Choinnich and back is 30 minutes. See the Ben Kenneth Hill Race website for more information.

The Fortress of Rudha an Dùnain

The eight-mile round trip walk to the promontory fort of Rudha an Dùnain on Skye is one of the shorter classic Hebridean walks. It has, as its destination, an historic set of structures: a passage grave, a chambered cairn, a Viking Canal, the fortress of Rudha an Dùnain, and the abandoned village of Dunan.

I was first drawn to this remote corner of Skye by Arthur Gardner’s photo of Rudha an Dùnain (plate 110, The Peaks, Lochs and Coasts of the Western Highlands, 1930). The photo shows a small headland of rock jutting into the sea, with a defensive wall separating a small bit of ground at its very tip. It also shows an odd pinnacle, perhaps an intact bit of wall higher than the rest, that looks like the crow’s nest of a ship, and gives the fort the appearance of a pirate stronghold. Rudha an Dùnain means the headland of the little fort, and it is a small-scale version of the great promontory forts of the Irish west. It was at Rudha an Dùnain that MacLeod of Skye based his coastal watchmen; ready to light a warning beacon should Clanranald, sailing from the isles to the south and west, be on the warpath. 

Rudha an Dùnain

It is a pleasant walk along the coast from Glen Brittle. And just before you reach the north side of Loch na Airde you'll come to a jumbled chambered cairn and a neolithic passage grave. The central chamber of the grave is intact and open to the sky. I hopped down into it and crawled along its passages. But I did not stay long, as the air was thick with hungry midges.

Central Chamber

On the south side of the loch you'll come to an amazing site, the Viking canal, that links the loch to the sea. It is not known for sure who built it, but the MacAskills, MacLeod’s coastal watchmen, are said to have used it to bring their sea-going ships to safe harbour in the loch. For more photos of the canal see the August 30, 2014 post. 

The Viking Canal

Just beyond the canal is the fortress of Rudha an Dùnain. Its defensive promontory wall is built of massive squared stones, the upper ones cloaked in moss. The eighty-foot long wall, some twelve feet thick, once completely sealed off the tip of the headland. The area of land it defended was small, and forty feet beyond the wall is the cliff edge, fifty feet above the sea. If the defenders ever failed to keep out invaders, there was nowhere to run.

At the first sign of an approaching enemy the MacAskills would light a warning beacon, and from the fort a series of lookouts along the coast could quickly relay information that trouble was afoot. 

From the headland it is a short walk north to the ruins of Dunan; a small abandoned township where one large building stands out: Rudha Dùnain House. It is fifty feet long, and twenty wide. One end has a normal gable, but the other end is rounded, and appears to have been a very large chimney. The last MacAskill of Rudha Dunain lived here in the 1860s.

Rudha an Dùnain House

From Dunan it's an hour's walk back to Glen Brittle; completing one of the best hikes in the islands. If you ever make it to Rudha an Dùnain, stand on its 3000 year-old walls and think on this verse from Alasdair Alpin Macgregor's Watchmen of the Sea:

Would that thou to Rudh’ an Dunain

Mightest go at ebbing light,

To review the phantom galleys,

As they steal upon the night;

Listen there with muffled breathing

For the sweep of oars below,

Dear was vengeance to Clan Ranald,

In the nights of long ago.

Breacan's Cave

The best island hikes are ones with historic destinations. One of my favorites was around the north of Jura, past a viewpoint of the Corryvreckan whirlpool, and on a wee bit farther to Uamh Bhreacain, Breacan's Cave.

Breacan's Cave

There are several other 'Breacan' place names at the north of Jura. A hill that rises above the cave is Aird Bhreacain (the heights of Breacan), and just offshore swirls the whirlpool of Coire Bhreacain. One of the Gaelic meanings of 'breac' is speckled. So it's possible the place names come from the speckled waters of the whirlpool. A traditional derivation is from Prince Brekan, who is said to have drowned when his fleet was caught in the whirlpool, and was buried in the cave. In its day it was a well defended cave, and remnants of a protective wall still stand.

The cave is 100 feet deep, and it was written in 1700 that there was a tomb and altar in the cave. It was also reported, in the 1800s, that a stone coffin was dug out of the cave, but all it contained was dust. On my first visit to the cave I was hoping to see what was left of the tomb. Once walking 50 feet past the outer wall I came to a giant slab lying on the ground.

The slab looked like it could have covered a grave, or been part of an altar. But a search of the cave floor showed no sign of a dug-out tomb. What was evident is that the cave is a regular shelter for the feral goats that roam the island, as the cave's floor was covered with a thick carpet of goat-pooh.

It was dark and dreary, so I didn't linger long in the pooh-covered cave. Once back outside I made a bad decision to take a shortcut across the island to make a more direct return to the car, which was parked at road's end on the other side of the island. That shortcut crosses the notch in the ridge you can see in the next photo taken from near the mouth of the cave.

It was a bad decision because it was stalking season, and I'd not inquired about any hunting activity. But I was lucky, and made it across without interfering with anyone. If you ever hike in deer country in season, always ask around to see if a hunt is on. If you ask, you may be surprised what you're told. The last time I asked about access, when I wanted to cross the Morsgail estate on Lewis, the keeper was happy to hear from me. He told me no worries, all his clients were fishing, not deer stalking. He also gave some tips on the area, and let me know there were people staying at a remote bothy that would welcome a visitor (see the Ardveg Walk post). So good things can come to those who ask.

Looking back to the headland of Breacan's Cave (on left) from the shortcut across the island

Although my walk in 1999 was inspired by wanting to see the cave, it led to an even better thing: discovering the beautiful, remote bay nearby. And so, six years later, I returned to camp there for a few days. Island hikes often lead to discovering something new, something that makes you want to return again and again. So take a hike on Jura, Islay, or any island. I'm sure you'll come across something surprising, something wonderful. Something that will bring you back, again and again.

Campsite near Breacan's Cave

Old Scalpay Light

Scalpay lighthouse is an impressive sight, one most people only see from the Uig to Tarbert ferry. But you can get a closer look by making the mile-long hike from the end of the road on Scalpay. The tower seen today was built in the 1820s. But hiding below it is the original lighthouse, the first built in the Western Isles. It dates to the 1780s, and used whale oil burned in front of a reflector. 

The artist William Daniell spent a night on Scalpay in 1818, and produced an aquatint drawing of the old lighthouse.

Old Scalpay light - 1818

Same scene - nearly 200 years later

In the previous photo you can just see the top of the old light to the right of new tower. The shell of the old tower is intact, but its interior has almost completely rotted away. And it will only get worse, as just a few timbers remain of its roof; allowing rain, wind, and birds in to do more damage.  

The old light - some 230 years old

With such a historic destination, the walk to Scalpay lighthouse is a great starter to introduce someone to Hebridean hiking. The terrain is boggy in a few places, and it is easy to lose sight of the marker posts, but the walk is so short that you can't really get lost (though there may be times when you may think you're lost). You can read a description of the hike here.

Inside the old Scalpay tower

The Witches' Home - Canna

I have posted before on Canna's Prison Rock (see the November 14, 2014 post). I was just reading John Lorne Campbell's Canna: The Story of A Hebridean Island, and in it I came across an amazing drawing of The Prison that I'd not seen before: The Witches' Home, by Richard Doyle.

'The Witches' Home' by Richard Doyle

Richard Doyle was an illustrator in the mid 19th century. He visited Canna on two occasions, once in 1859, and again in 1875. It was during the 1875 visit that he made two drawings of An Coroghan, also known as The Prison, an 80-foot stack at the east end of Canna. An Coroghan is a corruption of An Corra-dhun, which means something like the extraordinary (or peculiar) fort. 

It is indeed an extraordinary fort, but one that is slowly crumbling away. There is a little sign next to it saying that the National Trust intends to stabilise the structure. But it's been 20 years since I first encountered that sign (it is still there) and nothing has been done. It's been over 10 years since I last climbed to the top of An Coroghon, which is something I would not do again, as the structure appears ready to tumble down at any moment. 

These days the stack is best left to the witches, who can fly to it on their brooms without causing any damage. If you'd like to see Doyle's drawing it is in the V&A Museum.

Best left to the witches

Berneray Giants - Two

Islands called Berneray seem to grow some tall folks. There are two Hebridean 'giants' that I've heard of, and both came from Bernerays. The best known is Angus Macaskill, from the Berneray in the Sound of Harris. Born in 1825, he grew up in Nova Scotia where his family moved when he was six years old. Macaskill grew to a height of 7 ft, 9 inches, and performed a demonstration of strength for Queen Victoria. Macaskill lived to the age of 38, and there is a large memorial to him near the burial ground at the southwest end of Berneray. At Dunvegan (Skye) you can find a museum dedicated to Macaskill (see this link).

Angus Macaskill's memorial

There is another, and lessor known Berneray Giant, Peter Sinclair. He was from another Berneray, the one next to Mingulay (also known as Barra Head). Sinclair was postman for the isles south of Barra, and joined a travelling show at one time to capitalize on his seven-foot height. Unlike Angus McAskill, no cairn or museum commemorates Peter Sinclair. But the ruin of his house on Berneray still stands. It has been drastically altered for use as a sheep fank, but you can still see where he raised one end of it so he could stand inside.

Peter Sinclair's home on Berneray (Mingulay to the left)